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Jawalamukhi (600 mt)
56 km from
Dharamsala is the famous temple
of goddess Jawalamukhi also called the “Flaming Goddess” or “She
of the flaming mouth”.It lies in the valley of Beas and is built
over some natural jets of combustible gas believed to be a
manifestation of the goddess Devi Bhagwati Jawalamukhi. A legend
avers that the flames proceed from the mouth of demon Jalandhara,
the Daitya King whom
Shiva over-whelmed with
mountains. |
The temple building is modern whose dome is of gilt, gold and
pinacles and possesses a beautiful folding door of silver plates,
presented by the
Sikh Raja Kharak Singh, which so
struck Lord Hardinge that he had a model made of it. Many people,
especially women take a vow that if anything they ardently wish for,
is obtained, they will go on pilgrimage to the temple here. Beautiful
songs in praise of the goddess are sung by the women on way to the
temple. On the backside of the temple water runs along a water-course
which takes off from a spring high above. Some say this canal was
constructed by
Emperor Akbar to try to quench the
flames. The attempt having proved abortive, he became a devotee of the
Goddess. The song popularly sung in praise of the Goddess describes
how the Mughal Emperor came barefooted and placed a crown of gold
before the Goddess as offering. That crown is still preserved and it
is said, it was turned into copper as soon as the Emperor looked back
in pride and thought of costly present he had made. The interior of
temple consists of a square pit about three feet
deep with a pathway all round. In the middle, the rock is
slightly hollowed out about the principal fissure and on applying a
light the gas bursts into flames. The gas escapes at several other
points from the crevices of the walls of the pit. There is no idol of
any kind, the flaming Fissure being considered as the fiery mouth of
Goddess. There is the Gorakh Dibbi,
Chaturbhuj Temple and a host of other smaller shrine at Jawalamukhi
town.
Rockcut Temple Masroor |
